Taj Mahal

About this board game

Taj Mahal is a strategic auction game for 2–5 players, with games lasting about 90 minutes. Set in northwest India at the beginning of the 18th century, it places players in the roles of princes seeking power as the rule of the Grand Moguls wanes.

Across twelve turns, players compete for control of regions and the support of five influential figures: the Vizier, General, Monk, Princess, and Grand Mogul. Each is represented by a different symbol, and players use cards in four colors to bid for these rewards.

During an auction, a player may increase a bid by playing more cards, but may only use one color in that turn. Alternatively, a player can withdraw and claim the reward for every symbol in which they have the majority. This creates a careful balance between committing cards to the auction and withdrawing at the right moment.

• Build palaces after securing the support of an influential figure.
• Gain commodities by taking control of a region or retrieving them from a space where a palace was just built.
• Earn bonus points by connecting palaces across several regions on the map.

Palaces, commodities, region tiles, and connected networks all contribute to a player’s influence points. After the final area has been auctioned, the player with the highest total wins.

Originally released in 2000, Taj Mahal is the third game in the Alea big box series. The 2018 Fantasy Flight Games edition includes rules for two players, using only the cards already included in the game, and those rules can be used with any version.